UK singled out for criticism over protection of privacy

Britain has one of the worst records in the developed world for protecting the privacy of its citizens, according to international research to be published tomorrow.

The survey of privacy conditions in 50 countries, carried out by Privacy International and the US-based Electronic Privacy Information Centre, singles out the UK for criticism over a series of law enforcement measures which the authors say have undermined civil liberties, especially since the September 11 terror attacks on the US last year.

The report concludes: "There is, at some levels, a strong public recognition and defence of privacy ... On the other hand, crime and public order laws passed in recent years have placed substantial limitations on numerous rights, including freedom of assembly, privacy, freedom of movement, the right of silence, and freedom of speech."

In particular, the report highlights moves to allow law enforcement and other public bodies to demand access to telephone and internet records without obtaining a judicial or executive warrant. The anti-terror legislation rushed through parliament last autumn included provisions which will require communications service providers to keep their customers' records for longer periods so that the data is available to the authorities.

Britain has also been a key player behind the scenes in pushing data surveillance measures through at EU level.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, an independent watchdog, accused ministers of a "systematic attack" on the right to privacy by introducing laws permitting mass surveillance.

"The UK demonstrates a pathology of antagonism toward privacy," he said. "The rate of growth of video surveillance, communications surveillance and information collection has exceeded the growth rate in such countries as Singapore and Israel."

Mr Davies said legal protections over privacy had been "weakened at a fundamental level" by government. "The UK Data Protection Act is almost useless in limiting the growth of surveillance," he added.

The report will be launched at a conference at the London School of Economics examining the impact on privacy of September 11. The researchers discovered an almost universal shift in the balance towards more surveillance and less privacy since September 11.

The report states: "Among all of these measures, it is possible to identify a number of trends, including: increased communications surveillance and search and seizure powers; weakening of data protection regimes; increased data sharing; and increased profiling and identification. While none of the above trends are necessarily new, the novelty is the speed in which these policies gained acceptance and, in many cases, became law."

While most countries in the developed world have laws intended to limit intrusions on privacy, the report found that in many cases these have been rendered redundant by the determination of governments to know more about their citizens.

Last night, the Home Office said that while some powers introduced under anti-terror and other laws infringed privacy, safeguards were in place to ensure the correct balance between civil liberties and security. "September 11 meant that the nature and level of threat we faced was different and specific, and targeted measures were necessary to ensure that was addressed," a spokeswoman said.